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I think people make this way to difficult. Compound movements, good form and high intensity(effort) and you will see results. I think high reps, low reps, 3 sets, 5 sets all of those things make little difference. Just work your ass off in the gym whether you are there 30 minutes twice a week or 90 minutes 3-4 times week.

Thanks for the input! I can say that every workout I go hard for sure. I just want to try a program and see if I get different or better results.

I do need to start logging. I've read that leangains blog post, it is good info. I'm going to have to re-read it. It's the main reason that I decided againist using gloves and why I started increasing the amount I lift. Speaking of no gloves, the calluses on my hands are getting sooo bad and I even use a file on them.

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For squats today I wanted to move up to 80 because I've been at 70lbs for a while now, but I couldn't get the bar over my head and in place so I had to stick with 70lbs for 7-8 reps. I have no doubt I could squat more but I guess I don't have enough arm strength to get the bar in place. Any tips on that?

Start using the squat rack- set the brackets where you can get it up on your back without too much trouble, and then step back. Set your feet and squat. Step forward to put the bar back in the brackets.

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Start using the squat rack- set the brackets where you can get it up on your back without too much trouble, and then step back. Set your feet and squat. Step forward to put the bar back in the brackets.

+1, you don't want your squat weight to depend on your arm strength.

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I think 90% of size is what you eat (and how much) and genetics. I see other people at Crossfit doing the exact same workouts, sometimes with heavier weights than me - or, on the contrary, able to bang out more reps on some bodyweight workouts than me just because they weigh less - and yet not adding on much muscle. Some of them are much more anal about their diet, too, e.g. 100% Paleo whereas I am 90% Primal and eat dairy daily. In the end, our differences come down to genetics.

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Go to Nia Shank's website. That girl lifts VERY heavy and she's super skinny. She's skinnier than I would ever want to be. Browse through her blog, too, and look for videos of other women who lift heavy. You won't find anybody who is super big.

Female, 5'3", 50, Max squat: 202.5lbs. Max deadlift: 225 x 3.

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Start using the squat rack- set the brackets where you can get it up on your back without too much trouble, and then step back. Set your feet and squat. Step forward to put the bar back in the brackets.

The only thing close to a squat rack we have is a smith machine. From what I've read on this forum that's not a good thing to use... or am I mistaken?

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Go to Nia Shank's website. That girl lifts VERY heavy and she's super skinny. She's skinnier than I would ever want to be. Browse through her blog, too, and look for videos of other women who lift heavy. You won't find anybody who is super big.

I saw the link on the 'bulky" thread you started. I'm not really that worried about get big but I do want to increase strength and look good too

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Sounds like an odd gym. You're right, you don't want to use a Smith Machine. Can you get someone to help you and perhaps use the set up for the bench press and walk forward?

The only set up for a bench press is the bench itself and I set it on an incline and use 2 dumbells. The other thing they have for a bench press is where you load the weight plates but it's all one machine. I guess it it a weird gym!

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It's a crappy gym, really find a new one. One that actually the the most basic strength tools known to man; bench press, squat rack, weights.

Also using dumbells is going to be really hard for women to get stronger with, since they only go up in 5 lbs increments which means when you want to add more weight you can only go up 10 lbs at a time.

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It's a crappy gym, really find a new one. One that actually the the most basic strength tools known to man; bench press, squat rack, weights.

Also using dumbells is going to be really hard for women to get stronger with, since they only go up in 5 lbs increments which means when you want to add more weight you can only go up 10 lbs at a time.

I'll have to deal for a while until the new gym opens up but thanks for the advice.

Why is it different with dumbells in increasing weight? The barbells go up in 10lb increments too, or are you talking about adding weight with weight plates?